Photo/Illutration The education ministry's building (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Girls and boys across multiple age groups set records on both ends of the weight spectrum in the education ministry's School Health Survey for fiscal 2024 released on Feb. 12. 

The highest rate of underweight children was found to be 4.22 percent for 12-year-old girls and 3.88 percent for 15-year-old boys. 

Boys ages 7 and those 9 to 17 also logged record rates, as did girls ages 8, 9 and those 14 to 17.

The 2024 numbers are the highest since the calculation method was changed in fiscal 2006, but do not factor in data from fiscal 2020 to 2023 when the timing of health checks differed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Meanwhile, the ratio of overweight children who weigh at least 20 percent more than the average weight for others of the same height is also at a record high.

Notably, 11-year-olds of both sexes logged the highest ratios at 13 percent of boys and 10.02 percent of girls. 

Record rates were also observed among 5-year-old boys, those 8 to 11 and 13-year-olds. For girls, the highest ratios were found among 5-year-olds, those 7 to 9 and 11-year-olds.

“One of the factors is believed to be the unstable lifestyle habits influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic,” although it is not possible to say anything definite about the trend toward underweight or overweight children, an education ministry official in charge of the survey said.

The health check results were collected from 7,755 public and private kindergartens, elementary, junior high and high schools across the country. Children were ages 5 to 17 and data was divided by age and sex. 

Underweight children are defined as weighing at least 20 percent less than the average weight of peers of the same height. 

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